Clemson University Industrial Engineering

Dr. Tom Sharkey, a professor in the Clemson IE department, was recently awarded and selected to receive the 2024 IISE Fellow Award.

Fellow is the highest classification of IISE membership and “recognizes outstanding leaders of the profession who have made significant, nationally recognized contributions to industrial and systems engineering,” according to the institute.

Sharkey has been described as an outstanding researcher, a passionate supporter of colleagues, an active promoter of populations regardless of background and an excellent and innovative teacher.

His extensive involvement with IISE over the past decade, including editorial roles, conference organization, leadership positions and mentoring initiatives, reflects his dedication to advancing the profession and prioritizing IISE as his primary professional commitment.

Not more than 20 fellows can be named each year, according to IISE.

Congratulations, Dr. Tom Sharkey!

The department hosted the 3rd annual IE Research Lab Olympics on Wed. May 8th! This is an event where students involved in research, faculty, and staff compete in fun games. This year, we played the classic Olympics events of soccer, giant jenga, discus, co****le, and trivia. Four teams, representing several research groups competed: APECS, ECHO/BEST Lab, Sharkey Research Group, and the Tucker Research Group. APECS won and will get to hold the trophy in their lab for this year. Congratulations!

Clemson University researchers are exploring how surgical teams collaborate with both humans and robots, shaping the future of surgery. Jackie Cha, an assistant professor of industrial engineering, is leading the research as part of a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Go to the link in the comments to learn more.

Congratulations again to all of the Clemson IE students, faculty, and alumni on their awards at last week's End of Year Celebration! Check out some of our favorite memories from the event!

During the Clemson University Industrial Engineering End of Year Celebration, the inaugural Distinguished and Young Alumni of the Year Award recipients were awarded for their impact on Clemson and the Industrial Engineering community. Award recipients are accomplished and distinguished alumni who have graduated from Clemson’s Industrial Engineering program, and young alumni recipients have graduated from the past 5-10 years. Each recipient was chosen based on their contributions to Clemson University, as well as to the Industrial Engineering department, influence within the broader Industrial Engineering profession, career achievements, personal milestones, and commitment to community services, mentoring, and volunteerism efforts.

Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award recipients:
Mr. Arin Bhowmick - Class of 2000
Mr. Russell Johnson - Class of 1960
Mr. Michael "Mickey" Olsen - Class of 1967
Mr. Ryan Starnes - Class of 2010

Young Alumni of the Year Award recipients:
Dr. Robert Curry - Class of 2018
Mrs. Ali Hobbs Everett - Class of 2015 and 2016

Congratulations to the Clemson University Industrial Engineering undergraduate award winners during the Clemson IE End of Year Celebration!

Sophomore Academic Achievement Award - Alex Nickles
Junior Academic Achievement Award - Jackson Beavers
Senior Academic Achievement Award - Luke Moody
Outstanding Junior Award - Abigail Lefler
Kimbler Undergraduate Researcher Award - Timothy Wilson
Janine Anthony Bowen '89 Undergraduate Scholar - Ava Joiner
Karen & Carl Lindenmeyer Award - Hayley Lightsey
Edwin J. Freeman Award for Outstanding Senior - Ian Venkatesan

Congratulations to the Graduate award winners, Professor of the Year, and IE 4670 award winners during the Clemson IE End of Year Celebration!

Janine Anthony Bowen '89 Graduate Fellow - Patrick Fuller
Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant - Sarvesh Sawant
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant - Morteza Soltani
Student Memorial Award - Krystal Liu
Student Development Award - Alec Gonzales
IE 4670 Team Member of the Year - Ian Venkatesan
IE 4670 Team Leader of the Year - Becca Pledger
Professor of the Year - Dr. Mariah Magagnotti
Teaching Assistant of the Year Award - Sara Sadralashrafi and Chris Gonzaga

Congratulations to Russell Johnson for receiving our next Distinguished Alumni of the Year award.

Russell graduated from Clemson in 1960 with his bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering and went on to earn his masters in business in the Indiana Executive Program at Indiana University in the Graduate School of Business. During his time at Clemson, he was an active member of the Society of Industrial Engineers (SIE), and on the engineering magazine staff where he wrote articles on Industrial Engineering topics and trends.

After graduating from Clemson, Russell went on to work for General Precision, Inc. as a Production Analyst, where he analyzed costs, work measurements, and utilized mathematical and statistical analysis on electronic and instrumental products. He then spent many years working for Lear Corporation in the automotive industry as an industrial engineer and manager. He went on to have many more successful careers at Nachman Corporation, Microdot, and Marett Associates in Charlotte, NC, until he retired in 2002.

Russell is also a registered Professional Engineer and was active in the American Institute of Industrial Engineers (AIIE), a society dedicated to the support of the profession, providing leadership for the application, education, training, research, and development of Industrial Engineering. He also spent his time serving as an active member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) during his career.

He has generously given to Clemson annually since his 1960 graduation – a total of 64 consecutive years. A President’s Club donor since 2007, and a lead donor for the 1960 Clemson North Green Gift. This project commemorates the transition of Clemson from military to civilian, all-male to coed, segregated to desegregated, and college to university.

Clemson IE was represented at this year's International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care conference, where many faculty and students had a unique opportunity to learn, connect, and contribute to the advancement of healthcare through the application of human factors and ergonomic principles. This year's conference took place in late March in Chicago, as the 13th annual symposium!

Congratulations to Mrs. Ali Hobbs Everett for being awarded as our next Young Alumni of the Year recipient.

Ali first started her passion for industrial engineering in healthcare at Clemson and graduated in 2015 with her bachelors degree and 2016 with her masters degree, where she pursued a thesis in evaluating the impact of facility design on the perception of safety by healthcare workers. She then began to pursue a career in fusing healthcare and IE together, where she worked in healthcare facility design.

During her time at Clemson, she was a teaching assistant for IE 2100 and a research assistant in Dr. Neyens’ Ergonomics and Applied Statistics Lab. She additionally was awarded the Kimbler Undergraduate Research award and IISE’s Society for Health System’s Scholarship and the Lewis W. Blackman Patient Safety Student Champion Award. Ali’s dedication to helping others understand her passion for healthcare has inspired many others to follow in her footsteps.

After graduating with her masters from Clemson, Ali went on to work for Catalyst, a Haskell Company, in Charlotte as a Healthcare Analyst in Operations Management from 2017-2021, where she led many initiatives in merging engineering design and healthcare together. She then began working at CBRE Healthcare in Charlotte as a Project Manager in Facility Activation Solutions from 2021-2023. Her current job at CBRE entails many different responsibilities, but essentially, she’s getting to live her professional dream: opening hospitals for a living.

Outside of her career, Ali has additionally committed significant time and energy to bettering the profession and her industrial engineering community. She has volunteered in various positions for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering’s Society for Health Systems (SHS) and resides on the SHS Board of Directors. Beyond SHS, Ali serves as a Board Member for her local chapter of Women in Healthcare and as a “Big Sister” in the Charlotte area. She has also written several publications that have been published in ISE Magazine, along with being featured as a Top 30 Under 30 “Future Leaders of Charlotte” recipient in September 2020.

Today is the 9th annual Give Day at Clemson University.

Give Day offers us a chance to celebrate our community that reaches across colleges, states and even generations, and it celebrates how we are better and stronger together.

No matter the amount, a single gift can provide paths and opportunities for people who long to begin their Clemson Journey.

To give support to the Clemson Industrial Engineering department, visit https://iamatiger.clemson.edu/giving/giving-to-clemson?id=6053ffa6-e3a9-4320-ab4f-0490c3b09cb7&fbclid=IwAR2AM68hwO4MERupcCevyu0XWvKbG-XhCekhDmAwNV6ooczIW7P0Lvjn0N8_aem_ASmq8R6FS_xQdcv0YGKAL7ht9Y7j12Tt_XCBl163YB1_POBV2cIhlRj7TkA-DlCmLWWvl_K3DjPaswznRMPq_zIU
There is also more information about how to participate in Give Day when you visit https://giveday.clemson.edu!

Clemson IISE is having its last General Body Meeting tonight joined with APMClemson for the semester!

Hop on Zoom and check out what young Clemson University Industrial Engineering Alumni are up to!

This upcoming Monday, April 8th, Clemson IE will be hosting the second Alumni Panel, which is covering careers in user interface, user experience and manufacturing!

It will be located in Freeman 78 (auditorium) and will have Dr. France Jackson and Nicholas Bigner as speakers.

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Curry for receiving the IE Inspiring Excellence Young Alumni Award on behalf of the Clemson University Industrial Engineering Department. Rob has shown outstanding dedication to the industrial engineering field in his passions for teaching and research. He was first a student at the University of Arkansas, where he received his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 2013 before pursuing a master's degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida in 2014. He then went on to pursue his PhD in industrial engineering at Clemson until 2018 and has followed his passions to teach and lead research efforts in the field.

Rob originally began his teaching career at Clemson, where he taught the Deterministic Operations Research course and served as a teaching assistant for several semesters. In 2018, he received the IE Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award for his dedication to teaching and education. After his time at Clemson, Rob first became an Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department at the United States Naval Academy and is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas. In his current role, Rob contributes to the industrial engineering profession by generating new knowledge via research, disseminating research findings via publications, educating and mentoring students, and serving professional organizations.

His research involves methodology for modeling and solving large-scale network optimization models having applications in defense settings, sensor networks and cyber-physical infrastructure settings. His work has been published in high quality journals such as IISE Transactions, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, Networks, and Naval Research Logistics, and his research has been sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. His teaching experience and interests lie in linear and integer programming, network optimization modeling and algorithms, and applied probability and statistics. Outside of his profession, he loves spending time with his wife and two children, running, and cooking.

Major Discovery Night was a big success last week for Clemson University Industrial Engineering!

We had Clemson University IE alumni, faculty and staff come together during the major exploration event so that students have the opportunity to meet and network with Clemson University IE engineering alumni in a variety of professional roles to guide them in selecting their major.

Typically hosted in the springtime as engineering students prepare to choose their field, this event gives the General Engineering cohort a unique opportunity to acquire insight into numerous career fields and help them make a more definitive choice about their future.

Next Wednesday, April 10th, is the 9th annual Give Day at Clemson!

Give Day offers us a chance to celebrate our community that reaches across colleges, states and even generations, and it celebrates how we are better and stronger together.
No matter the amount, a single gift can provide paths and opportunities for people who long to begin their Clemson Journey.

To give support to the Clemson Industrial Engineering department, visit https://iamatiger.clemson.edu/giving/giving-to-clemson?id=6053ffa6-e3a9-4320-ab4f-0490c3b09cb7&fbclid=IwAR0_ek9X_fHQye_H9hAKOy_WjaC6BU1XHeakFapJF5GfrFy0gp-rZJrSQlo_aem_ASBko8SA2B2Bl7srZn9dJ2CnU6Nxoj3jUZRM2pcOCbmR6s2M_JOZSLeZWgYFXHqjqR2VKYUyjeLO40CTNe_k0wLs
There is also more information about how to participate in Give Day when you visit https://giveday.clemson.edu!

The Biomechanics Open House event is taking place this Friday, April 5th, from 9 AM - 12 PM in Freeman Hall in room 130.

The event is hosted by Clemson IE, Bioengineering, and Sports Science!

It will be an introduction to Biomechanics to middle and high school students through hands-on activities, demos, and Q&A.

RSVP by scanning the QR code, or by visiting https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNtMHOMrbz8czZwsF9D-YrOEhJmGZZayYlpvj_RL3FB2vvLw/viewform!

Reach out to Ananya Rao at 813-595-3776 with questions.

Volunteers are needed for a research study on Human-AI Teaming!

Please consider signing up for this research study, and for more information, scan the QR code to sign up.

*The study must be completed with yourself and one other person. Either sign up with someone at the same time or try to sign up with someone already registered.

This upcoming Monday, April 1st, Clemson IE will be hosting the first Alumni Panel, which is covering careers in consulting!

It will be located in Freeman 78 (auditorium) and will have three alumni speakers from Accenture including:
- Whit Fanning (Senior Consulting Analyst)
- Brianna Rasnick (Asset Performance Manager)
-Marisa Simmons (Asset Performance Technical Analyst)

Congratulations to Mr. Arin Bhowmick for being awarded as our next Distinguished Alumni of the Year recipient.

After graduating from Clemson in 2000 with a masters degree in industrial engineering, Arin has gone on to establish himself as a visionary leader in the field of human factors engineering, specifically in design and user experience.

As SAP’s Chief Design Officer, Arin currently leads a 1,000+ person design community at the world’s third largest publicly traded software company by revenue and oversees global design strategy across SAP’s vast array of products and services. In addition to his duties as Chief Design Officer, Arin also sits on SAP’s Innovation Steering Committee where he plays a pivotal role in shaping the company’s future through design considerations.

Before joining SAP, Arin spent six years at IBM as their Chief Design Officer for IBM Products, a tenure marked by over 60 international Design and Innovation awards. The impact of his work at IBM was acknowledged in a 2021 Harvard Business School case study. Before working at IBM, Arin’s career began at Oracle, where he eventually served as Senior Director of Cloud Applications and User Experience across his 13-year journey, setting the stage for his future leadership roles. Arin is most notably a craftsman who takes deep-rooted pride in simplifying complexity through the medium of design and technology to drive business and user outcomes. He is also a founding member and board advisor of the Design Executive Council, an independent entity by design leaders for design leaders, founded with the genuine intent to champion the advancement of design leadership.

In addition to his extensive career after graduation, Arin has maintained a special connection with the Clemson IE department and students in human factors by drawing from his extensive industry experience and providing constructive feedback for improving Clemson’s Human Factors program. He also readily engages in the Clemson IE community during conferences and consistently offers suggestions for enhancing IE programs by integrating current industry trends.

Clemson's 9th annual Give Day will take place on Wednesday, April 10th, 2024, which is just two weeks away.

Give Day offers us a chance to celebrate our community that reaches across colleges, states and even generations, and it celebrates how we are better and stronger together.

No matter the amount, a single gift can provide paths and opportunities for people who long to begin their Clemson Journey.

To give support to the Clemson Industrial Engineering department, visit https://iamatiger.clemson.edu/giving/giving-to-clemson?id=6053ffa6-e3a9-4320-ab4f-0490c3b09cb7.

There is also more information about how to participate in Give Day when you visit https://giveday.clemson.edu!

If you are an undergraduate IE student, please cast your vote for Professor and TA of the Year!

To vote, scan the QR code on the flyer. Flyers are also posted around Freeman Hall!

The deadline to vote is this Friday!

Congratulations to Mr. Mickey Olsen for being awarded as one of our Distinguished Alumni of the Year awardees.

Mickey graduated from Clemson with a bachelors degree in industrial engineering in 1967 after being actively involved in the Institute of Industrial Engineers, where he was the treasurer during his senior year. Once he earned his degree, he started another IISE chapter in Fayetteville, NC after beginning his first job at Burlington Industries and was elected president due to his outstanding leadership. He was later on elected as an Industrial Engineering Fellow by IISE in 1988
and is now considered a “life member” of IISE.

During his professional career, he spent 27 years with Burlington Industries as an industrial engineer and Corporate Director of Industrial Engineering from 1987-1994, followed by 13 years with Coats North America as the Vice President of Engineering with responsibility of Industrial Engineering, Facilities Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Safety Engineering and Real Estate. In his roles, he was mainly known for his leadership and was called upon to lead numerous company initiatives during his career.

In 2003, Mickey was awarded by the Association of Textile Industrial Engineers and received the Director’s Award for outstanding contribution to the field of Textile Industrial Engineering. He additionally served on the Clemson University IE Advisory Board from 1988 until 2006.

Mickey retired in 2007 after working in the industrial engineering field for over 40 years, and he now resides in Charlotte, NC and is active in his community at the Firethorne Country Club on their Advisory Board. He is also the secretary and treasurer of the Tennis Association and Chairman of the Pickleball Committee, where he volunteers and enjoys mentoring others.

This past Thursday, a group of 5th graders from Monaview Elementary School in Greenville took a field trip to Clemson to participate in hands-on STEM activities! They spent the morning in Freeman Hall learning about different engineering majors and challenge problems. Graduate Students from Clemson Industrial Engineering volunteered at the event that was hosted by PeerWise, and they led several activities to introduce students to the operations research and human factors sides of IE!

Dr. Dan Li, an Assistant Professor in the Clemson Industrial Engineering department, received a $555,504 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to help develop system-wide cyber-physical resilience of continuous manufacturing operations. She will investigate the interplay between the industrial internet-of-things (IIoT) and physical equipment to uncover previously unseen system-level risks induced by interconnectivity. Li aims to collaborate with industry stakeholders and extend this work to other critical infrastructures to enhance national cyber-physical resilience. Congratulations!

The Clemson University Industrial Engineering Department is pleased to announce a new two-year plan of study launching this year for the Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering (MENG IE) program. This new option is in addition to the traditional 3.3-year study plan. Students can take one course per semester or two courses per semester to complete the program earlier. All MENG IE courses are asynchronous and are offered 100% online. Courses are self-paced within each academic term, enabling students to complete work at their own pace while staying on track for on-time graduation. Coursework integrates fundamental concepts and tools from industrial engineering and management. Graduates of our online MENG IE program possess the skills to improve supply chain systems in a variety of industries. For more information on the program, curriculum, and other important updates, visit https://www.clemson.edu/cecas/departments/ie/academics/graduate/meng/index.html.

Congratulations to Mr. Ryan Starnes for being awarded as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year recipient. Award winners are chosen based on their contributions to Clemson University, as well as to the IE department, influence within the broader IE profession, career achievements, personal milestones, and commitment to community services, mentoring, and volunteerism.

During his time as a student, Mr. Ryan Starnes excelled in the classroom and as a student researcher and was honored with the Kimbler Undergraduate Research Award in recognition of his exemplary contributions as a healthcare researcher on Dr. Kevin Taaffe's healthcare research team. Starnes graduated from Clemson in 2010 with a bachelor of science in industrial engineering and a minor in business administration after participating in numerous research initiatives that gave him the desire to be a leader within healthcare early on.

Following his graduation, he added to his industrial engineering background by subsequently earning both a Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Health Administration from UAB - The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Early in his career, he worked with Ochsner Health System to optimize operating rooms and spearheaded the design and implementation of a labor monitoring system, successfully reducing nurse anesthetist overtime. In early 2022, he played a pivotal role in the inception of Vanderbilt’s Hospital at Home program, a groundbreaking initiative enabling hospitals to provide comprehensive care – including services such as x-rays, IVs, and medication – in the comfort of patients’ homes. This innovative model has garnered significant attention, inspiring numerous hospitals and health systems nationwide to adopt similar initiatives. He now resides in Nashville, TN, and is the Senior Director of Operations for Hospital Medicine and Hospital at Home at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

In addition to his professional achievements, he engages in volunteerism and mentoring, serving as a troop leader for the Girls Scouts of America and contributing as an annual donor for the One More Day on the Appalachian Trail non-profit organization.

If you are an undergraduate IE student, please cast your vote for Professor and TA of the Year!

To vote, scan the QR code on the flyer. Flyers are also posted around Freeman Hall!

The deadline to vote is on March 27.

Congratulations to the inaugural Alumni of the Year Award recipients!

The Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients (10+ years removed from graduation) are as follows:

Mr. Russel Johnson
Mr. Michael "Mickey" Olsen
Mr. Arin Bhowmick
Mr. J. Ryan Starnes

The Young Alumni Award Recipients (5-10 years removed from graduation) are as follows:

Mrs. Mary "Ali" Hobbs Everett
Dr. Robert Curry

The Clemson University Industrial Engineering department is proud to present these awardees, where they will be recognized at the Clemson University Industrial Engineering End of Year Celebration in April.

Graduating this May, Dalton Thornton is set to join a manufacturing leadership development program, where he will do 3 rotations of manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and other management roles.

He originally chose IE because of his experience with robotics in high school and passion for problem-solving, strategy, and communication.

As a transfer student originally from Summerville, SC, Dalton chose Clemson because of his older brother who graduated in 2016 and a scholarship program called SPECTRA, which helps transfer students from technical colleges in the state pursue a degree in engineering or computer science.

"I am a part of a program called SPECTRA for transfer students from technical colleges in the state, I have tried to stay heavily involved with faculty like Dr. Mary Beth Kurz, as well as Mrs. Kathy Snipes, to help spread the word of this scholarship to other students like me who had to go to tech school first and did not know what opportunities they had ahead of them," said Thornton.

Dalton has participated in various internships while pursuing his degree, which were in operations style management and manufacturing engineering. Although he loves the skillsets that IE provides, he feels that the Clemson IE community has lifted him up the most.

"The people are really what makes me passionate about IE, every interaction I have had with students and faculty has been amazing, I set out when I transferred to try to talk to everyone within the department and think I have managed to keep that goal on track. Not only in terms of college but also in the workplace, being able to go on the floor and talk to the assembly line workers and understand what they go through and how to help make their jobs easier is a big part of my passion for IE, I enjoy both the talking aspect and the problem solving that this major provides."

In his new program after graduation, he will find out where he best fits in the IE industry and feels equipped with the skills that Clemson IE and the department has given him.

Congratulations, Dalton!